The idea of an Assault Weapon is poorly defined and mostly created by people who don't know much about guns. Much like science is scoffed and pu pued by the ignorant, people who know nothing about guns get all freaked out by a banana clip.

Just because it looks like an automatic doesn't make it so. All the "assault weapons" were was a bunch of case modded hunting rifles. You could still buy a machine gun that whole time. Legally. (with proper permits and such)